Karsa Orlong Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Book #51: Adrift on the Sea of Rains by Ian Sales Blurb: A nuclear war has killed everyone on Earth, leaving stranded on the Moon nine astronauts at Falcon Base. With them they have a "torsion field generator", a mysterious device which they hope will find them an alternate Earth which has not succumbed to nuclear armageddon. But once they've found such an Earth, how will they make the trip home? Thoughts: Short and sweet, Ian Sales' story takes us back to the 80s and posits and Earth destroyed by nuclear war between the superpowers, supposedly instigated by Russia invading the Middle East and taking control of the oil fields. That's kind of secondary to the predicament the characters find themselves in. Twelve American astronauts are stranded on the moon when the world is destroyed. Three of them have taken their own lives, and the remaining nine have lived in the confines of the lunar base for two years, as their rations dwindle and their nerves fray. They barely even manage a civil word to each other any more, living within their own tiny bubbles, just the routine of their duties carrying them through. This was the best part of the novella for me. Sales creates the lunar environment so vividly, and really gets inside the head of his main protagonist, Vance Peterson, darting back and forth in time to fill in the blanks about how this situation came to pass. My one complaint about the story is that it is full of acronyms. It's heavy on the science, and the jargon is great, but the acronyms had me scratching my head at times. It was only afterwards that I realised they were all listed in an appendix at the end In fact, the various appendices are as interesting to read as the story itself. In them, Sales lists out an alternate history of the world, miltary and space programme. It's very clever stuff. This is the first of four novellas, so I'm really looking forward to the next one. The ending of this one is quite horrifying and sets things up quite nicely. 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I've always planned that it will be my first purchase when the TBR pile hits 70 That's why I keep buying more books No! Seriously, didn't mean it Wohoo, if I remember correctly, 70 TBR isn't that far off. (At least if you stop acquiring new books...) C'mon, read all your shortest books in a row (And no, still not pressuring you in any way...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Wohoo, if I remember correctly, 70 TBR isn't that far off. Five to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Book #50: The Breach by Patrick Lee Ooh, this sounds like a good one. Have added it to my wishlist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 Ooh, this sounds like a good one. Have added it to my wishlist. It's great fun, I hope you enjoy it. I just started the sequel, Ghost Country, this afternoon and it's equally gripping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 Book #52: Ghost Country by Patrick Lee Blurb: What Paige Campbell saw when she opened a door into seventy years from now scared the hell out of her. Now she and Travis Chase know that tomorrow’s world is desolate and dead . . . unless they can find the answers buried in the ruins to come. But once they cross the nightmare border into Ghost Country, they might never find their way back . . . Thoughts: This picks up the story two years after the events of The Breach, and it's another thoroughly entertaining thriller. I don't want to say anymore about the plot (I already heavily edited the Amazon blurb, above). It's full of action and twists, the characters are well written, and the ending is real pulse-pounding stuff. I find Lee's style very agreeable and fun to read and, even though it's a big screen popcorn novel, there's more than enough here to keep the brain cells working, even if it's totally barmy I do hope, though, that the final book in the trilogy, Deep Sky, answers all my remaining questions, particularly with regard to the entities. Otherwise, top stuff. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 Now do I start another book this afternoon, or do I wait a few more hours for the new Steven Erikson, Forge of Darkness, to be delivered? Do I read something I can get through quickly, or do I read that one as soon as it arrives? I know it'll take me ten days or so to read it. Hmmm, decisions decisions . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) Changed my mind about how to review Forge of Darkness (see next post!) Edited August 9, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) Book #53: Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson Blurb: Now is the time to tell a tragic tale that sets the stage for all the tales yet to come . . . and all those already told. It is the Age of Darkness and the realm called Kuruld Galain - home of the Tiste Andii and ruled over by Mother Dark from her citadel in Kharkanas - is in a perilous state. For the commoners' great warrior hero, Vatha Urusander, is being championed by his followers to take Mother Dark's hand in marriage but her Consort, Lord Draconus, stands in the way of such arrogant ambition. As the impending clash between these two rival powers sends fissures rippling across the land and rumours of civil war flare and take hold amongst the people, so an ancient power emerges from seas once thought to be long dead. None can fathom its true purpose nor comprehend its potential. And caught in the middle of this seemingly inevitable conflagration are the First Sons of Darkness - Anomander, Andarist and Silchas Ruin of the Purake Hold - and they are about reshape the world... Here begins Steven Erikson's epic tale of bitter family rivalries, of jealousies and betrayals, of wild magic and unfettered power...and of the forging of a sword. Thoughts: This one's very tough for me to review, because my expectations were so high. Erikson's ten-novel 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' sequence is, for me, the greatest work of fantasy fiction I've read to date. Sure, there were a couple of books in the series that didn't quite match up, but several of them rank as my favourite books of all time. Forge of Darkness takes us back thousands of years to tell the story of the Tiste people and the civil war that tore them apart. This is something that was mentioned on many occasions in the main series, and it's interesting to see it dealt with in so much detail here. A lot of characters from the main series appear here (they're very long-lived, these races!) but, perhaps wisely, Erikson sticks to telling the story from the viewpoints of new characters, thereby not spoiling the mythos of the likes of Anomander, Silchus Ruin et al. Lord Draconus is consort to Mother Dark, effectively the queen of the Tiste peoples who is taking on the power of Night (quite why she is doing this doesn't become apparent until late in the book). For various reasons, this has caused a lot of unrest among the Highborn Tiste, some of whom now conspire against him. Draconus, therefore, decides to remove his 'person of dubious parentage' son, Arathan, from Tiste lands, so that he cannot be used as a weapon against him. Their journey to the west is one of the better plot threads in the book. To the east, a vast sea that devours anything that touches it is encroaching upon Tiste lands. A mysterious and powerful woman emerges unscathed from the waters and sets about awakening old gods to oppose Mother Dark. So civil war looms, both for political and religious reasons. There are problems with this book. Having now finished it, I think it will be a bad place for anyone new to Erikson to start. Half the enjoyment I found in it is in the resonance with events and characters I have already read about: Anomander's descent into Darkness, Draconus's daughters Envy and Spite (and revelations about their parentage), the friendship between Silchas Ruin and Scara Bandaris, and some incredibly moving moments later on involving Hood. This latter, in particular, is something that makes me doubly certain that the main books should be read first, as Hood's true nature was a mystery for much of the series but is revealed immediately here. Of course, the flip-side of this is that, if you read the main series first, then you know roughly how this trilogy is going to end . . . Unlike the main series - where each book had it's own self-contained main plot with a beginning, middle and end (whilst still advancing the ongoing stories) - Forge of Darkness is very much the first part of a trilogy, so instead of having that beginning, middle and end, we just have a beginning. A lot of what's here is groundwork. The result is that there are a lot of character viewpoints - way more than in his other books, and far too many, imo. The switches between them are sometimes jarring, and the chapters seems to be in a definite sequence, which means that you'll be reading about a particular character, then they'll disappear for five chapters or more, until their turn next comes around. The book is also too long, and the philosophising drags the pacing down. Erikson has a lot to say, about class, religion, society, law and order, and more, and this all pours out in dialogue and internal monologues. At times it's very interesting, at others I just wanted to shout at him to 'get on with it'. This happened a couple of times in the latter books of the main series, but not to the degree it seems to happen here. Again, I get the feeling it's groundwork, but a little brevity would've been appreciated. There are still some brilliant Erikson moments, though, particularly involving the three Sons of Darkness, and the Jaghut. When he puts his mind to it, the novel begins to motor and I started to remember why I found the original books so thrilling. He hasn't lost his ability to shock, either, and one resulting sequence in this books provides some particular unpleasantness that, frankly, I could've done without. Overall, I'm not sure what to think of this book. I'm disappointed in many ways, but I keep reminding myself that Gardens of the Moon (the first book of the main series) led into two of the best fantasy novels I've read, and how all of his books seem to reveal hidden depths upon re-read. There's nothing in Forge of Darkness that matches up to the main series. It cannot compare to Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, Midnight Tides, or The Bonehunters. But then, for me, very few books can. 6/10 _____ A couple of favourite quotes from the book: 'Every dying hearth was home to fragile ghosts, and all that glowed was but the memory of living.' 'Rise was an historian who wrote nothing down, because history was not in ages past, not in ages either gilded or tarnished. It was not a thing of retrospection or cogent reflection. It was not lines scratched on parchment, or truths stained deep in vellum. It was not a dead thing to reach back towards, collecting what baubles caught one's eye, and then sweeping the rest from the table. History was not a game of relevance versus irrelevance, or a short term reordering of convictions made and remade. Nor was it an argument, nor an explanation, and never a justification. Rise wrote nothing, because for him history was the present, and every detail carried its own story, reaching roots into antiquity. It was nothing more than an unblinking recognition of life's incessant hunger for every moment, like a burst of the present that sent shockwaves into the past and the future.' 'We are all interludes in history, a drawn breath to make pause in the rush, and when we are gone, those breaths join the chorus of the wind. But who listens to the wind?' Edited August 9, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Envy and Spite.....those are brilliant names. Erikson's books sound more my style than GGK but it is just that the Malazan series is so big it is intimidating.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Envy and Spite.....those are brilliant names. There's also one called Malice Just bought Stephen Leather's Hard Landing and David Baldacci's Zero Day for Kindle at 49p and 20p respectively. Total impulse but figured I coulnd't really lose at those prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 (edited) Decided on a complete change of pace and started Ian Rankin's The Impossible Dead. It's my first Rankin. Read about 90 pages of it last night and, compared (just in ease of reading, not in content and style) to the complexity and density of Forge of Darkness, it feels like a very light read, which is just what I felt I needed! Edited August 10, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 Book #54: The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin Blurb: Malcolm Fox and his team from The Complaints are back. They've been sent to Fife to investigate whether fellow cops covered up for a corrupt colleague, Detective Paul Carter. Carter has been found guilty of misconduct with his own uncle, also in the force, having proved to be his nephew's nemesis. But what should be a simple job is soon complicated by intimations of conspiracy and cover-up - and a brutal murder, a murder committed with a weapon that should not even exist. Thoughts: As mentioned upthread, this is the first of Rankin's novels that I have read. It's the second book in his new series about Malcolm Fox, so maybe not the best place to start, but it was half price so it seemed a good idea (not that I need much persuading to buy books!). I don't think the story suffered too much from my lack of knowledge of the first book (The Complaints) but I guess I'll only be able to tell that for sure when I eventually get around to reading that one. The only tiny issue I found is that I could never quite picture Fox (why am I always tempted to call him Mulder? ), because I don't recall there being much of a description of him, whereas other characters always seemed to be described in detail. Perhaps I blinked and missed it, or maybe it's something I was expected to know from the first book, but it seems odd considering the rest of the book reads so well on its own. As such his age and appearance kept changing in my mind, so I never really settled on how he should look and sound. That aside, I really enjoyed Rankin's writing style, which I found very easy to read. There's humour (mainly in the banter between the members of the team) and intrigue, and the plot - whilst not particularly involved - developed quite nicely, throwing a couple of twists in and leading the investigation back to the 1980s. I also liked the glimpses into Mulder's Fox's private life, his feud with his sister etc, which was well done. And at least she hadn't been abducted by aliens or mysterious cigarette smoking men. Some reviews I've read say that this is far from his best work, in which case I am very much looking forward to reading some of Rankin's other books, because I enjoyed this one 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 My efforts not to buy any new books are failing (as usual! ). I've wanted to get Rivers of London for a while but have been holding off, but £1.99 on Kindle was too good a deal to miss. Also, in the post today I received the rather sexy SF Masterworks hardback edition of The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells, another one I've wanted for ages (I thought I'd better get it now as it seems to be becoming a bit rare). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 ^ I've got the Penguin version, 'cause I'm interlectual like (not because it was only £2.00, mint condition, in a 2nd-hand bookshop). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) Book #55: The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie Edited September 4, 2017 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Wow great review, not many books get the 'Steve 10'. I am looking forward to reading this now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Wow great review, not many books get the 'Steve 10'. Thanks Tim Some other reviews of The Heroes: http://www.guardian....tion-eric-brown http://www.sfreviews...bie_heroes.html http://www.sfsite.com/02a/he337.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 And . I don't think she likes Gorst much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Ooh I love Joe Abercrombie .. or I loved the First Law trilogy anyway (I was definitely one of the ones making the fuss that you were puzzling about ) I will most certainly read this I'll tell Alan too because he adored the trilogy but didn't think the book that followed those was quite as good ( cannot remember the name of it). He's just read Mockingbird and enjoyed it so I've scored loads of points for a good recommendation I can tell you .. this will be another one Thanks Steve, great review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 Ooh I love Joe Abercrombie .. or I loved the First Law trilogy anyway (I was definitely one of the ones making the fuss that you were puzzling about ) I will most certainly read this I'll tell Alan too because he adored the trilogy but didn't think the book that followed those was quite as good ( cannot remember the name of it). He's just read Mockingbird and enjoyed it so I've scored loads of points for a good recommendation I can tell you .. this will be another one Thanks Steve, great review Thanks Kay Glad you both enjoyed Mockingbird. I'd offer to send you The Heroes, too, but it's a definite keeper (for me, at least)! I can see myself reading it again and again The book that came after the First Law trilogy is Best Served Cold. I know this because I might have bought it at lunchtime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Thanks Kay Glad you both enjoyed Mockingbird. I'd offer to send you The Heroes, too, but it's a definite keeper (for me, at least)! I can see myself reading it again and again Oh no worries, he'll definitely want his own copy .. he hasn't got much of a book collection but he has got a shelf with four Abercrombies on it .. will be nice to add another (and I love the look of that cover .. his covers are all stunning). The book that came after the First Law trilogy is Best Served Cold. I know this because I might have bought it at lunchtime That's the one .. I'll be interested to know what you make of it because I never read it due to Alan's indifference. He liked it to begin with but ended up thinking it a bit of a pale imitation but maybe that's because he read it soon after finishing the trilogy. Glokta and The Bloody Nine are hard acts to follow. If you think it's good though .. I will read it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Oh no worries, he'll definitely want his own copy .. he hasn't got much of a book collection but he has got a shelf with four Abercrombies on it .. will be nice to add another (and I love the look of that cover .. his covers are all stunning). Yeah, there's something very tactile about them. They feel almost like parchment, something old with a lot of history contained within. I liked that the cover of The Heroes (and Best Served Cold, by the looks of it) serve as maps, even though there are maps inside The Heroes. I really don't like the smaller versions of First Law that they released at a later date. Anyway, I ordered the boxed set of the First Law books. It'll just sit on the shelf, for a while at least. When I think about the time I took finding my original editions of those books in the best condition I could, and then ended up taking them to the charity shop to clear some shelf space . . . That's the one .. I'll be interested to know what you make of it because I never read it due to Alan's indifference. He liked it to begin with but ended up thinking it a bit of a pale imitation but maybe that's because he read it soon after finishing the trilogy. Glokta and The Bloody Nine are hard acts to follow. If you think it's good though .. I will read it I read mixed views on it, too, which is why I hadn't bought it until now. I'll go into it thinking it can't possibly be as good as The Heroes. Maybe it'll surprise me Talking of surprises, I had a nice one waiting for me when I got home last night: my signed, slipcased hardback edition of Steven Erikson's new novella, The Wurms of Blearmouth, has arrived. I have copy 219 out of 300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 There's also one called Malice This GGK is one negative, spiteful dude, is he not? Some reviews I've read say that this is far from his best work, in which case I am very much looking forward to reading some of Rankin's other books, because I enjoyed this one Oh crap, I had a copy of his first novel in the series for such a long time, had I known you wanted to read his books I would've sent it to you! But I gave it away a few months ago... My efforts not to buy any new books are failing (as usual! ). I've wanted to get Rivers of London for a while but have been holding off, but £1.99 on Kindle was too good a deal to miss. Also, in the post today I received the rather sexy SF Masterworks hardback edition of The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells, another one I've wanted for ages (I thought I'd better get it now as it seems to be becoming a bit rare). So where are you at regarding your TBR? RoL is on my wishlist as well, so I can't blame you for buying a copy TIoDM is a classic which I also want to read, so you can't be blamed for that, either. 10/10 Wow great review, not many books get the 'Steve 10'. I am looking forward to reading this now I was about to say the same thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 This GGK is one negative, spiteful dude, is he not? *cough* Steven Erikson *cough* Actually, Lady Envy is a brilliant character when she turns up in the main Malazan series Oh crap, I had a copy of his first novel in the series for such a long time, had I known you wanted to read his books I would've sent it to you! But I gave it away a few months ago... Don't worry! So where are you at regarding your TBR? RoL is on my wishlist as well, so I can't blame you for buying a copy TIoDM is a classic which I also want to read, so you can't be blamed for that, either. Well, I can. My TBR is sneaking back up towards 80 again. Need to get it down to 70 soon. Plus I'm having a slow month. The combination of the Olympics and Forge of Darkness slowed me right down. I'm on only my fourth book of the month I was about to say the same thing Oi A ten should indicate perfection, shouldn't it? Can't go giving them out willy-nilly, can I? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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